Billboard Charts

Musicians continue to make chart history in 2015 despite lackadaisical sales in many cases. Future’s sales were by no mean lackadaisical this time around as DS2 (Dirty Sprite 2) debuted commandingly at #1 on the Billboard 200. No, Future was unable to move the same numbers of contemporaries like Drake, Kendrick Lamar, or Meek Mill, but his 147,000 units is his best career week yet. Even in sales alone, 121,000 copies according to Billboard, he more than doubled his start for his 2014 effort, Honest.

What gives with Future’s come up? That’s a good question! Interestingly, as Future is...

Sigh, yet another musician has seen his dreams realized on the Billboard 200. Although pure sales and lucrative chart longevity have only been kind to some, a number of artists have landed their first number one album this year. Add Tyrese to the list, as Black Rose earns the Billboard 200 crown this week. The 81,000 units isn’t the sexiest total ever, but, for an R&B album, that’s great. Why? – Because R&B has struggled with commercial lucrativeness all year and Black Rose gives the genre its highest impact and first number one album in 2015. Sweetening things more is that most of the...

Ricky Ricardo said it best on I Love Lucy – “Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!” The mouthful of a title should explain it all – all the confoundedness that is. Apparently an updated Billboard chart is upon us already… HUH? How? WHY! Well, good old Billboard essentially released their first chart of their new tabulation cycle.

Basically, to recap, all new music releases across the world are embracing a global release day – Fridays. Because the former new release day was Tuesday, the Billboard charts were centered around that particular day to accurately tabulate sales and streams so on and so forth. So to...

So the music industry is changing once again – SHOCKER! New albums now are being released globally on Fridays. Since new albums are being released on a new date, the ever-changing Billboard 200 will have to shift its window of tallying ‘multi-metric consumption’ aka album sales, streams, and overall impact. What does all this mean? Well, this is the last Billboard chart update that takes place on Thursdays. So let’s all celebrate the final Billboard 200 update on Thursday with yet another artist celebrating his first #1 album.

The iconic singer and guitarist scored his first number one on the Billboard 200 with the release of his latest album, "Before This World," at the young age of 67 years old! But he isn't the only one to accomplish such a feat!

Only forty-seven years after his debut album, "Before This World" sold 97,000 copies in its debut week, according to Rolling Stone. This allows the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer to enjoy his first ever number one.

"Before This World" is Taylor's first collection of new music in 13 years.

Prepare to be shocked! 67-year old veteran singer/songwriter James Taylor debuts at # 1 on the Billboard 200 with Before This World, impacting to the tune of 97,000 units, which was almost entirely sales. Those are solid numbers by all means for anybody regardless of age or status. Why is the news shocking about Taylor debuting "in the penthouse?" It's because as unbelievable as it may be, until this particular album, Taylor experienced a career-long drought in the "#1 album" department. Taylor had scored a #1 single before, but until Before This World, the “You’ve Got A Friend” singer exp...

Another week and another new number one album on the Billboard 200. This week, British alternative band Muse takes the top spot with Drones, their first number one album. Muse’s numbers weren’t the sexiest ever, but the 84,000 units are respectable, with nearly all of those units being pure sales. Interestingly, Muse’s last three albums have debuted in reverse order – The Resistance at #3, The 2nd Law at #2, and now Drones at #1. Wasn’t Muse totally destined to spend some time in the penthouse eventually?

The only other newbie to the Billboard 200 top ten this week came courtesy of ...

Men, women, and children everywhere, get ready for a total shocker on the albums chart this week. Florence + The Machine scores its first #1 album of its career with How Big, How Big, How Beautiful. Total shocker right? – Totally NOT as all indications suggested that front woman Florence Welch and company was about to “come up.” Kudos, as the alternative band impacted to the tune of 137,000 units, most of which were sales themselves. Compared to the opening performance of previous album Ceremonials, how does the sales of How Big… compare? In sales alone, How Big… wins, with about a 25,00...

In the biggest SHOCKER of the week (can you sense the sarcasm?), A$AP Rocky scores his second number one album of his career with At.Long.Last.A$AP. In a week not characterized by its star power, it was expected that the New York City rapper would easily reach the top of the charts. According to Billboard, Rocky’s impact was respectable at 146,000 units, on par with the 147,000 units that last week’s number one album – Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface – moved. In regards to pure sales, A$AP Rocky’s debut album outperformed his sophomore effort. Still, six-figure sales are a rarity these da...

It’s a good year to be Twenty One Pilots – more specifically a good charting week! The alternative duo’s second album for a major label, Blurryface takes the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 this week, to the tune of 147,000 units. Nearly 92% of those 146,000 units are pure sales, formerly the means that the Billboard 200 was constructed. Blurryface easily surpasses Twenty One Pilots’ previous effort, Vessel, which has expanded it sales recently, but still hasn’t sold enough to achieve a certification by the RIAA.

Twenty One Pilots weren’t the only newbies to the chart this week. Zedd ar...